Michael DeNobile's Movie Reviews

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE: A REFLECTION ON THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (2013) Michael DeNobile reviews the 2013 film  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty  and its moral implications. To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of LIFE. One day, we may wake up and realize that we have not been or done anything noteworthy or mentionable. We get caught up in the mundane of our lives, time passes, and we allow it to slip away. We forget that we are truly unique—that no one of our chromosomal make up, born in the exact time and place we were, with our parents, friends, and family, thinking the exact thoughts when we thought them, experiencing the experiences when we experienced them, has ever, is, or will ever walk this earth, and because of that, by virtue of science we possess a unique place in the universe. And that we have this wonderful gift of a planet for us to discover, explore, experience, e...

A REFLECTION OF SEASON THREE OF GAME OF THRONES  There are times in our lives when choices come into focus. And that choice, right or wrong, though difficult, bubbles up to the forefront as the only choice one can make. When you're alone in unknown territory and fall in love, and the one you love shoots arrows into you: you climb. When all seems lost, your family dead, and all you have is hate and a list of names to avenge your family name, one of which is your captor: you climb. When you're not taken seriously, maybe because you're a woman or a child or have some perceived disability: you climb. When you are forced to marry someone instead of the one you love: you climb. When you endure the death of your father, the abuse of someone you thought was good, and the loss of your ancestral home: you climb. When you are captured and tortured: you climb. When you are thrown in a pit with a bear: you climb. When the snow is deep and the wall is tall, and the only w...

Originally published May 2016. A REFLECTION OF THE MOVIE BEFORE WE GO (2014) Here's a bit of free existential advice: life is complicated. We are often caught between trains at the station, missing one and thinking that that was the mistake. But the mistake was thinking that thought to begin with. One decision, one night can change the course of history, whether it is big history like the story of America or small history, like you missing that train. Things happen for a reason; it's wisdom to just swim through it and let it happen. Fall in love more than once. The first time will teach you what kind of person you really are. The second time will let you know it is possible to love again. Never regret a broken heart; only regret if you run away from it. When all else fails, check yourself into a hotel room to find a warm, safe place to put things into perspective. Fill out the review with full-throated honesty, but leave the "Are you likely to return?" lin...